Talamh an Eisc; Irish Music in Canada

From the early 1500s, the Irish have been coming to Canada, first to fish off the shores of

Newfoundland but soon to settle in every corner of the country, where Irish music has

blended with older Indigenous, Scottish and French traditions to create unique Canadian

sounds. The old song melodies have acquired new Canadian words about life in the bush, on

the great lakes, on farms and in lumber camps. There have been Irish heroines and heroes,

poets and bandleaders, and there have been wild characters. The kitchens, parlours and

dance halls of Canada have been ringing with the sounds of jigs and reels, ballads and

convivial songs from the Emerald Isle for nigh onto 300 years. Come hear some of the great

stories and Irish-Canadian music that is so much a part of our cultural world.